Tracklist: Mojo Pin / Grace / Last Goodbye / Lilac Wine / So Real / Hallelujah / Lover, You Should've Comer Over / Corpus Christi Carol / Eternal Life / Dream Brother //
Jeff Buckley's rendition of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah is
what most people have heard from Buckley's contribution to
music. It's by far the best cover of Hallelujah out
there, and if you were lured in by the clear infinite potential that his voice
has, once you've heard Grace you'll find the hidden
depths that his music leads to. Buckley's music is hard to
describe - with references to rock, soul, jazz and blues, it defies any
standard labelling. Constructed with simple instrumentation; guitar, bass,
drums, voice and exceptional string arrangements. This construction creates a
dense sound bursting with emotion. Few have commented on the meticulous
arrangements of his music, sometimes referring to it as over
orchestrated or too ornate, however the tracks are often
simple whilst feeling full of texture and overflowing with intensity -
that demonstrates how much care has been taken in creating the correct texture
and movement he wants to produce.
Buckley's voice,
that lures everyone in, is immense; a tenor vocal range that covers three
and a half to four octaves. In his rendition of the 15th century hymn, Corpus
Christi Carol - taken from Benjamin Britten's A
Boy Was Born, Op. 3 - he sings the piece entirely in his falsetto
range which sounds as clear and as pure as it would sound as if this is
where his voice naturally sits. His voice is boundless and
haunting and rises above the musical content that accompanies him,
this is evident whenever he sings and validates the absolute potential that his
voice held.
Grace is Buckley's only
complete studio album. He didn't get the chance to complete his next project as
he unexpectedly died in 1997 at the age of 29. When Grace was
first released in August '94, initially its sales were poor with mixed reviews
not understanding where the album stood, in genre and musicality. It gradually
acquired critical acclaim and commercial success and by 2007 it had sold over 2
million copies internationally.
There is another cover on the album that is just as strong
as Hallelujah or Corpus Christi Carol and perhaps more
so: Lilac Wine, originally written by James
Shelton but his rendition is based on Nina Simone's version
which he turned into an ethereal experience purely using
the emotion that cascades from his voice.
These covers that he's recorded and performed demonstrate Buckley's potential,
but the music that he wrote for himself to perform allow us
to determine his potential as a musician. Along with his voice and
the instruments that accompany it, are the lyrics that
he wrote, that are just as beautiful and transcendental as his voice.
"The words come from here," he answered when interviewed
by Ted Kessler for NME. "From memories, from dreams, from people I've
known. I'm always writing and reflecting on life. I want to suck it all in. The
music comes from within and outside. Within is the big mystery of life, we've
all got it. The outside bits are easier: The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Smiths
- man, I'd fight for their honour, for the words of Morrissey and the music of
Johnny - Edith Piaf, My Bloody Valentine, James Brown [and] Lush." The
artists that he mentions are clear influences in his music, there are distinct
representations of their music in his: Mojo Pin, So
Real and Dream Brother have the visionary
textures and elements of Led Zeppelin through the use of
instrumentation and his voice.
Buckley was often asked about
his late father, Tim Buckley – a well-known American balladeer
from the late 60s, early 70s who died at the age of 28. It was a sore topic for
him, and one he’d rather not discuss in context to his music, as his musical
ability and strengths were his own. “There’s always been music. It’s been my
friend, my ally, my teacher, my tormentor…I can’t recall a time when it wasn’t
there. And singing just took me over.” This love for music and want to
prove himself as his own musician - separate from his father’s name – drove his
music to a new level beyond his father’s. Grace’s title
track is just under six minutes of brilliance – the composition of the string
arrangements accompanying with fluid melody lines in the background emphasising
the eerie aura of his voice, while switching to this beautifully well-timed
staccato movement during the end of the second verse.
Through Grace, we've only gotten to witness a
small part of what he could have created; it demonstrates how infinite his
potential as a musician was and how much he could have evolved. Grace is
an awe-inspiring album that remains just as engaging and intense as the first
time you listened to it.
References:
Benjamin Wood, My Hero: Jeff Buckley, http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/11/my-hero-jeff-buckey-by-benjamin-wood
Dominique Leone, Jeff Buckley Grace: Legacy Edition, http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/995-grace-legacy-edition/
Dominique Leone, Jeff Buckley Grace: Legacy Edition, http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/995-grace-legacy-edition/
Stephanie Zacharek, Jeff Buckley Grace, http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/grace-19941103
Merri Cyr, The Real Jeff Buckley, http://www.theguardian.com/music/2005/mar/11/popandrock1
N.A, In Praise of...Jeff Buckley, http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/dec/24/praise-jeff-buckley
Ted Kessler, Jeff Buckley: 'either cursed or the luckiest man alive', http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/aug/27/jeff-buckley-interview-1994-grace
(Grace) Jeff Buckley album, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_(Jeff_Buckley_album)#cite_note-2
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